Almost two months into EA. Satisfied?

[Pythagoras]

Talk is cheap, if you think you can do a better job yourself, then spend your time create some mods and fix those problems you encountered, instead of complaining and downplaying the developers efforts in forums.

Again: If they would communicate things like that, or even give us some actual updates about where they are standing and where they want to go, then far less people would complain.

Again everyone thinks if "a bigger Rockstar/Bethsheda/Ubi made a Mount and Blade Theyd rule dudes!!" Wrong.

No, just a more ambitious studio that wants its concept to be improved and fill out its potential, living up to modern possibilities, instead of copying the 10 year old version.

 

[babelfisch]

No, just a more ambitious studio that wants its concept to be improved and fill out its potential, living up to modern possibilities, instead of copying the 10 year old version.

Yeah, where is battle royal and loot boxes?! Also needs more quick time events!

The game should also be released in 5 different versions which all come with different exclusive armours. Unless you buy the ultimate collection for 90€...

 

[MostBlunted]

Again everyone thinks if "a bigger Rockstar/Bethsheda/Ubi made a Mount and Blade Theyd rule dudes!!" Wrong.

No, it´s right. If Rockstar would have done this we wouldn´t have stuff like "This is a generic backstory" in the game. Also we would have a working game but some probs with cheaters in multiplayer.

 

[babelfisch]

No, it´s right. If Rockstar would have done this we wouldn´t have stuff like "This is a generic backstory" in the game. Also we would have a working game but some probs with cheaters in multiplayer.

If Rockstar would have done this game we wouldn't have early access and would only know about the game one month before release. Do yourself a favour and come back when the game is finished.

 

[Watergun]

If Rockstar would have done this game

Then it would be a totally different game.

If they would communicate things like that, or even give us some actual updates about where they are standing and where they want to go,

This plan is good enough for me. And these updates are good enough for me.

 

[Pythagoras]

Then it would be a totally different game.

This plan is good enough for me. And these updates are good enough for me.

The plan mainly consists of fixes, and isn't even complete ("a list of some of these"). It is by no means an actual comunication regarding all the valid, constructive criticism. Updates are also mainly fixes, e.g. with some minor added equipment, but not real features or similar steps forward.

 

[KingSling]

These were simply based on your own assumptions. In fact I am in similar situation as TaleWorlds: working in a department where the subject is niche in the market. However, due to previously bad management, information are not well documented by the ex-team, the new team who took over needs to pick up every details (including the niche information) from scratch. These takes time to pick up but the department need to keep its head above water, so, we are still “labeled” as expert (which obviously we are not yet) in that subject in order to market our niche product.
The point is, even if you had paid a certain price of an unfinished product, which is termed as early access, you should be already expecting something worse, not for the better. 2 months passed, and 2 months can be considered long, can be short, it is still subjective. As I had mentioned in one of my post, it can take me 2 months to just resolved 2 simple bugs taken by face value. Why took me 2 months: simply, 1. i have to relearn the codes, 2. previous developers developed a non-future proof code style. The list goes on. I believe even if other developers took up the same job, situation will be either same or not even worse, very less possible to be better. Talk is cheap, if you think you can do a better job yourself, then spend your time create some mods and fix those problems you encountered, instead of complaining and downplaying the developers efforts in forums.

I see where your coming from right up until your last point, which is more of the same "Talk is cheap, if you think you can do a better job yourself". I probably could run Tale-worlds better (already have a job thanks), I don't want too take up modding a game on my spare time, its not my job to fix anything! Putting the onus on the customer to fix the product is a terrible business model and a huge mistake. Who is the previous "bad management" in this scenario. Are their previous products so bad that they had no where to start here? 2 months is simply the reference to the games development in alpha, not in its entirety. Through the inception of bannerlord, which lets be honest is mount and blade 3 not a whole new title, I have; graduated college, gotten a job, got married, moved a few times, did some travel, moved again, and had 2 children. TaleWorlds released a bare bones alpha.
That being said the reason why it is frustrating is because the game delivers something that can't be found anywhere else. I think most people like the game and want to see it succeed. The concepts are good, the creative flow is their, but the management of this game is poor.

 

[Watergun]

steps forward

How to "step forward" when the base/foundation is not yet fully functional aka "early access"?

I don't want too take up modding a game on my spare time, its not my job to fix anything! Putting the onus on the customer to fix the product is a terrible business model and a huge mistake.

As mentioned in my previous post, modders are group of people who are passionate with the game, and passionate with coding/programming. They are not expecting anything in return for their time and effort spent, it is their hobby.

 

[froggyluv]

No, it´s right. If Rockstar would have done this we wouldn´t have stuff like "This is a generic backstory" in the game. Also we would have a working game but some probs with cheaters in multiplayer.

Wrong -true there wouldnt be a generic backstory but i can most assure you there'd be generic combat as all of their games have. Combat is the innovative star of Mount and Blade, always has been and AAA devs make terrible combat systems. Fact.

 

[KingSling]

How to "step forward" when the base/foundation is not yet fully functional aka "early access"?


As mentioned in my previous post, modders are group of people who are passionate with the game, and passionate with coding/programming. They are not expecting anything in return for their time and effort spent, it is their hobby.

Yea agreed, and I appreciate modders for that, but I'm not a modder nor am I passionate about modding. Your suggestion "then spend your time create some mods and fix those problems you encountered" is ludicrous. If I suggested that my customers do that for the product/service I provided, they would simply find an alternative option. Which is my point exactly, there is no alternative option which why the company and its fanatic sympathizers can get away with making statements like that. In a competitive market the better product would survive, that could be a big company like (Rockstar, Bethesda) and that may very well wind up being TaleWorlds.
P.S. Rumor has it that due to the rising popularity in this "niche" market, bigger studios are looking to take a bite into it.

 

[froggyluv]

In a competitive market the better product would survive, that could be a big company like (Rockstar, Bethesda) and that may very well wind up being TaleWorlds.
P.S. Rumor has it that due to the rising popularity in this "niche" market, bigger studios are looking to take a bite into it.

Where? Show me some evidence of this? Those big AAA companies simply dont venture into these "tricky games" territories. They are like the movie producers that build Marvel movies in a corporate boardroom. they look at what is "most accessible" read -what they can sell to the masses with the most God Rays for the most profit. They dont stray into areas like an Arma 3 -its simply too much work for not enough profit.

 

[Septimius Tullius]

Got bored fast in SP, then moved onto MP. Disappointed at how bare-bones the game was at launch, and feeling "meh" about the updates.

 

[Benjamin Bones]

Again everyone thinks if "a bigger Rockstar/Bethsheda/Ubi made a Mount and Blade Theyd rule dudes!!" Wrong.

Rockstar? Maybe.
Ubisoft? Most likely not.
Bethesda? No!

CD Projekt Red however...

 

[froggyluv]

"CD Projekt Red" - not interested in spinny arcady combat. Again you guys dont understand game development. A Developer may excel at making one type of game from one particular genre. Its like saying Jimi Hendrix would have ruled Rap music today = apples and oranges

 

[KingSling]

Where? Show me some evidence of this? Those big AAA companies simply dont venture into these "tricky games" territories. They are like the movie producers that build Marvel movies in a corporate boardroom. they look at what is "most accessible" read -what they can sell to the masses with the most God Rays for the most profit. They dont stray into areas like an Arma 3 -its simply too much work for not enough profit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeak.../rockstar_are_developing_openworld_game_with/ evidence of a rockstar foray into this area...any thing else

 

[Roaring Mouse]

"CD Projekt Red" - not interested in spinny arcady combat. Again you guys dont understand game development. A Developer may excel at making one type of game from one particular genre. Its like saying Jimi Hendrix would have ruled Rap music today = apples and oranges

I couldn't play The Witcher because of how recently I had played Mount and Blade prior to trying it, the combat was empty to me. Same with Skyrim, I eventually went back a few years later but the melee was always empty and unsatisfying to me. I get a visceral thrill from M&B combat

 

[Roaring Mouse]

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeak.../rockstar_are_developing_openworld_game_with/ evidence of a rockstar foray into this area...any thing else

Hopefully it will be fun, we are hearing about a rumor 6 months ago though. Any more updates?

 

[Kentucky 『 ＨＥＩＧＵＩ 』 James]

"CD Projekt Red" - not interested in spinny arcady combat. Again you guys dont understand game development. A Developer may excel at making one type of game from one particular genre. Its like saying Jimi Hendrix would have ruled Rap music today = apples and oranges

Game studios can and do branch out into different kinds of game. After all a studio is just a collection of individuals who get swapped out constantly, and a coder isn't really going to care whether they're making a movement system for an FPS or for a Strategy game.
The reason studios tend to stick with one game genre is either because that's what they're known for, or (in smaller companies) the managers only like one type of game. However for companies not known for anything (like Hello Games before they made NMS), they will jump between all sorts of stuff just so they can pay the bills, and constantly rebrand themselves.
For instance Creative Assembly is only known for total war, but they made Alien: Isolation which is nothing like their other titles, as well as a handful of other auxiliary releases and outsourced ports. Back in the 90s they made sports games and shovelware. Creative Assembly could probably make a first person shooter if they wanted.

CD Projekt Red is also another example because their second most successful title so far is a mobile card game.

 

[kreamy]

Since they don't seem to listen anyways it wouldn't matter i guess

Joke aside, not communicating with us in the EA phase and not reacting to this masses of actual constructive criticism smells a little bit like "we got our money, so we just fix the worst bugs and leave with it". So all the frustration is in part understandable, in my opinion. And when you don't actually talk to the people, who payed 50€ just to test a barebones product with such a desperate need of good feedback they shouldn't wonder why there is so much hate.

I agree. I think it was morally reprehensible for them to charge for said game at the state of which they knew it was - the only way to really find out was to purchase it for yourself and you cannot make a refundable assessment within 2 hours (especially if its something you waited for many years). I haven not seen such a pricing practice before (IE AAA price, totally raw product, and no scale to increase after release - you are effectively paying for the future product, which in financial terms actually costs you more (you pay 100% for 10% of something for example, I wont digress further here).

TO BOOT - they were TOTALLY misleading in the EA page, see below:
What is the current state of the Early Access version?
“In terms of content, the early access version of the game contains all of the main staples of the Mount & Blade experience, with a host of content that is new to the series. Players can create their own character using the game’s character creation system; explore the continent of Calradia; gather their own warband of troops; command and fight alongside their troops in large scale battles using the game’s extensive command system and intuitive skill-based directional combat system; raid settlements; lay siege to and capture enemy towns and castles; trade items and goods using the game’s deep economy system; engage in politics and diplomacy; manage their own clan; upgrade and manage settlements; gather armies and wage war; and much, much more... all in a vast singleplayer sandbox setting where no two playthroughs are the same. The early access version also includes fully supported multiplayer game modes for players to test their combat skills and tactical prowess against players from all over the world.”

This.

Maybe - but you dont buy the new version of a car at a higher price for less than the original you fell in love with - it just doesnt make sense. If they would have priced it at ~$30, maybe $40 I think it would be more acceptable (paying for the concept, while having some new aspect to it IE the engine and graphics essentially). The price is totally unjustified, and the dev also has a responsibility (morally at least), to treat their customer properly.
To your point - would a bigger, better company have treated us the same, with the same amount of concern, feedback, and pricing? I think its a recipe for disaster, and as a previously loyal customer - I dont see how I can get over this deception & purchase their future products. They knew full well what they were doing with pricing and the impact it could have for future customers and I dont think they cared at all - at least they have not voiced it. They are speaking less to us today than before they came out with the weekly developer blogs....

 

[Benjamin Bones]

"CD Projekt Red" - not interested in spinny arcady combat. Again you guys dont understand game development. A Developer may excel at making one type of game from one particular genre. Its like saying Jimi Hendrix would have ruled Rap music today = apples and oranges

My dear friend I think you may lack a bit of understanding here. That type of combat was a choice for that game - that genre. That doesn't mean that CD Projeckt Red couldn't do it a different way, for a different game - in a different genre. They're a larger company with more resources who are better equipped to higher top tier talent than TaleWorlds. That Jimi Hendrix analogy is so wrong for this argument that I smiled when I saw it. But I'll leave it at that since @Kentucky James VII put it so eloquently.